An altercation between Ailin Perez and Joselyne Edwards at the UFC Performance Institute in November made headlines for all the wrong reasons. It left Perez with damage to her left eye and resulted in her threatening legal action. Now, the two Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweights get a chance to settle their score inside the cage.
Perez will confront her Panamanian rival when they do battle as part of the UFC 302 undercard this Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The three-round clash should take care of whatever unfinished business exists between them. Perez plans to use the opportunity as a springboard in the 135-pound weight class.
“We are going to win this fight,” she told Sherdog.com. “I’m going to take revenge on Joselyne. I’m going to give her back not just one black eye but two busted eyes, and my name will be heard in every country.”
Bad blood notwithstanding, Perez respects what her opponent brings to the table from a competitive standpoint. Edwards, 28, holds a respectable 4-3 mark through seven appearances in the UFC, her wins over Yanan Wu, Ramona Pascual, Ji Yeon Kim and Lucie Pudilova offset by losses to Karol Rosa, Jessica-Rose Clark and Nora Cornolle. The Kings MMA rep boasts eight finishes among her 13 career victories.
“Joselyne is a strong fighter who keeps good distance,” Perez said. “She’s smart, but in the first round, she gives 100%, then she gets tired in the second and third. So that’s where the pace and pressure of the fight drops, and that’s where I’m going to find my distance and timing. I’m going to impose my game more in the second round than in the first. That’s what I think.”
Perez, meanwhile, enters the grudge match on the heels of back-to-back wins. The 29-year-old Argentinian last competed at UFC Fight Night 232, where she laid claim to a unanimous decision over the aforementioned Pudilova and boosted her organizational record to 2-1. Perez shows no ill effects from a September 2022 submission loss to Stephanie Egger in her Octagon debut.
“I’m happy with the career I’m having in the UFC,” she said. “I’m not surprised by the success that I’m having and that I’ll continue to have in the future. It is something that I have been working on a lot, and it is something that I learned precisely from my only defeat [in] my first fight in the UFC. It was more mental than technical. Oh, well. From all the defeats that happen to us in life inside and outside the Octagon, we learn, and I learned much.”
Perez operates out of The Goat Shed Academy in Miami, where she sharpens her skills under coaches Asim Zaidi and Roberto “Mango” Rodriguez. Among her training partners: “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 26 graduate Gillian Robertson.
“It is going very well,” Perez said. “My mental preparation was where I worked the most, obviously along with my technical coaches and physical trainer. I am training with a lot of tough, active fighters. They are very experienced and have a very broad vision on how to develop all the areas that we are working on.”
A former Samurai Fight House champion, Perez can focus on short-term results while remaining true to her long-term pursuits.
“My goal is obviously to beat Joselyne,” she said. “I am going to seek a finish against Joselyne because I have the power to do it. She has it, and so do I. After beating Joselyne, I am going to go on a winning streak so I can climb up the rankings, reach the top and be a contender for the title. I am going to be the first Argentine champion in the UFC.”